WE GOT:
- Light where we could not see
- Might where we once felt weak
- Courage where we once felt fear
AS LONG AS WE’RE HERE THEN WE’RE:
- Invincible
- Invincible
- Invincible
Song and lyrics made by yours truly. GIFs made by the internet.
My first ever full-length album, ‘The Pioneer Spirit’, came out recently and since then I’ve been on a whirlwind of sold out shows, charity performances at hospitals, interviews, and overall just FREAKING OUT. I write myself to-do lists every day now just so I can seize all these amazing new opportunities. Front and center on my to do list is this: Breathe, smile, chill out, eat well, get enough sleep.
Now that I have some time before the second leg of tour starts, I’d like to use this portal as the showcase for all the THANK YOUs to everyone who made ‘The Pioneer Spirit’ a reality:
- First and foremost, much thanks to my mother and father: Christine and Carlos Babini. Mama and Papa, thank you for all your encouragement and support over the years. Also thank you for your collaborative effort in 1986 :D
- Next, thanks to everyone I’ve ever recorded with, shared the stage with, even just jammed out with. I learned from you. If I somehow forgot a name on this list below I am monumentally sorry.
- Matt Rafal… Thank you for connecting the dots everyday. Thank you for putting me on tour and thanks for all your advice over the years. Thank you for still working on this project even while you had a baby. Congrats on being a dad and best wishes to baby Ethan and your family :)
- Thomas Keery… Thank you for putting up with my neurotic approach to recording music. Thank you for being a great friend. On every release I have on iTunes, you are on the recordings in some capacity. Woah!
- Zach Berkman… Thanks for helping to flesh out the songs in a live studio setting. Thank you for rescuing the song ‘Invincible’ from the trash bin. It was a pleasure visiting the workshop with you.
- Drew English… Thanks for coming in and helping the project get to where it needed to be. I’m very impressed by your meticulous approach to your work. I love your cats even though I’m allergic and they made me slightly itchy and sneezy.
- Steve Miller… My album’s overall sound would not be what it was without your mixing skills! I’m still blown away by the fact that we were able to record all of ‘Shut Up and Kiss Me’ in a single weekend. Thank you for insisting that I keep the line in the song about the graveyard.
- Andy Vandette… Thank you for mastering the project. Really cool to see that you gave your focus to even the smallest nuances like, for example, the count in at the beginning of ‘Jackie’. Also thanks for saying hello with your daughter at my show at Webster Hall :D
- Phil Cialdella… Thanks for hooking up the digital stuff! So awesome to have your positive encouragement behind my songs.
- ***Alaina Bendi ***… You deserve a VERY special thanks. You’ve only been my official publicist for a month but already you’ve gotten me booked for the radio, TV, and kickass website interviews. Even with a fever, a cold, and a cough you made it all the way through the first ever TEAM BABINI meeting via speaker and contributed a ton. GET WELL SOON!
- Jeff Fried, Pete Roessler, and Ruddy Adames… Thanks for capturing the visual aspect of the audio/visual experience! The album art came out great and each photo-shoot was a new adventure.
- Kyle McCammon, Mason Ingram, Ryan Bull, Dominic Fallacaro, Raphael Peterson, Stephanie Straface, Kathleen Smith, Adam Tressler, Gerald Menke, Audrey Selph, Elizabeth Lyon, Clara Lyon, Audrey Caliguri…. You are all incredibly talented human beings. I am head over heels in love with the fact that we get to be playing together on an album.
- To all the angels and she-devils I’ve known, my heartbreaks, my graveyard kisses, and my unrequited lovers…. Thank you for every ounce of joy and sorrow. My canvas is blank without a muse.
- Lastly, thanks to anyone who has ever listened to my songs recorded, at a show, or in any form whatsoever. Even if you only heard one second and then covered your ears the rest of the time. I’m thankful that, even if just a small moment, you and I got to know each other.
AB
As some of you know I’ve been working with a charity organization that brings my music to hospitals. I’d like to share a story about this. Just to be safe, I’ve changed a couple names below to protect folks’ privacy:
I’ve been working with ‘Musicians On Call’ to perform my music at various hospitals in different cities on tour. This is an extremely uplifting experience. The way it works is that MOC first schedules an artist for a hospital visit. Upon arrival, the artist is led around by a hospital guide to play for patients and staff.
About a month ago I performed for a pediatrics branch. My guide for the evening, an older woman named Donna, led me and a backup singer around. We sang for children of all ages.
We played for one teenage girl named Helen who is was in intensive care. Donna informed us that this child was extremely sick. Unable to go inside the room, I performed my song ‘My Direction’ for a small crowd of close friends and family while standing in their doorway. After my performance Donna told me that, when I sang, Helen had smiled for the first time in weeks. Up until that point it had seemed like this child had given up the fight to survive. As I was leaving, two of Helen’s young friends chased me down the hall out asking where they could find my music online.
I visited the same hospital again a couple weeks later. Donna greeted me again as my hospital guide. She told me that Helen had died that day. In the days following my performance, Helen had been asking the nurses when I could come back to sing. Donna expressed this not out of sadness but out of joy that I was able to touch a sick patient in such a positive way in her final weeks. That little girl is in a better place now and when she died she still had my ‘Alexis Babini Loves You’ sticker next to her bed.
Here is what has stayed with me: All of my personal problems, stresses, and worries that I’d been carrying with me that day completely vanished when I heard about Helen’s passing. I immediately became present to the impact I’m able to have with my talent. It’s victories like this that will make the world a better place.
To learn more about Musician’s On Call. Visit musiciansoncall.org
My debut album is charting in the iTunes top 100 lists! Lets get it to number 1 today! #thepioneerspirit
A ‘behind the scenes’ look at the new music video #shutupandkissme #valentinesday
Behind the scenes of shoot with @jeffyfried styled by @trikixniki
Just abuncha old movie posters (Taken with Instagram)
Sellersville PA lookin Easy On The Eyes! (Taken with Instagram)
